Carl Levin

Mr. LEVIN

Mr. LEVIN. How much time remains?

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I yield 13 minutes to the Senator from West Virginia.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I can think of no one in this body who is more appropriate to bring this debate to a close, or near to a close, than Senator Johnson of South Dakota whose son is serving with such honor and distinction and who brings such pride to his family. I thank the Senator for sharing with us the emotions I know he feels at this very moment as a father.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, Senator Byrd graciously agreed to yield 2 of his 15 minutes to the Senator from South Dakota. It will be very clear to the body as to why that was such an important and gracious act on the part of Senator Byrd.

Mr. LEVIN. If the Senator from New Mexico would yield for a request, I ask unanimous consent that after the Senator from New Mexico has completed, Senator Byrd then be recognized for 15 minutes.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I yield 7 minutes to Senator Baucus.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I yield the Senator 15 additional seconds.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I yield 5 minutes to Senator Reed.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield 5 minutes to Senator Dayton.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield 5 minutes to the Senator from North Dakota.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I will read the list of Senators on this side so that everyone will know who will be speaking before the vote on the resolution under the unanimous consent that was just adopted, and then who would come afterwards with their statements on the resolution being put in the Record before that: Senator Dorgan would be recognized for 5 minutes, Senator Dayton for 5 minutes, Senator Jack Reed for 5 minutes, Senator Boxer for 6 minutes, Senator Baucus for 7 minutes, Senator Byrd for 15 minutes. If my math is correct, all of those could be accommodated prior to the vote at 5. I notice the Parliamentarian has been adding up those numbers, and I am wondering if my math is correct. After the vote, if my math is correct, Senator Landrieu and Senator Biden would then be recognized on this side, and any other Democrats who wish to speak can come after the resolution, after those two Senators. Is the Senator correct that all of those I named up to Senator Byrd could be accommodated with the times indicated prior to the vote at 5?

Mr. LEVIN. If the leadership can give us guidance in how they want to handle this.

Mr. LEVIN. Seventeen minutes. If I talk longer, it will be 16 minutes. I have 17 minutes before the first vote begins, but there is no time set on the resolution itself we are debating; am I correct?

Mr. LEVIN. On my time. I have the following Senators on our side who are here and indicated they wish to speak: Senator Dorgan, Senator Dayton, Senator Reed who is in the cloakroom, Senator Boxer, Senator Baucus, Senator Byrd. So there is no way we are going to be able to complete even the people who are here, much less additional people who wish to speak and who come to the floor, and still have a vote on this resolution immediately after the three votes that are currently scheduled. So I join my good friend from Virginia in asking the leadership as to how they wish us to address this problem at this time. I have 19 minutes left before 4 o'clock--how many minutes?

Mr. LEVIN. Will the Senator from Texas yield for an inquiry?

Mr. LEVIN. Will the Senator from Virginia--has the Senator been yielded to already?

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I yield 5 minutes to the Senator from New York.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I wonder if the Senator will yield, just for a unanimous consent request. I ask unanimous consent that after the Senator has concluded, Senator Kennedy then be recognized for 6 minutes. Let me add my thanks also to Senator Nelson of Florida for the incredible tenacity he has shown supporting Captain Speicher.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield 5 minutes to Senator Bill Nelson.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield 3 minutes to Senator Bingaman.

Mr. LEVIN. I similarly indicate Senator Bingaman and then Senator Bill Nelson would be recognized on this side.

Mr. LEVIN. I yield myself 4 minutes. Mr. President, last month a number of us were fortunate enough to visit our troops in Kuwait, Qatar, and other places in the area. As Senator Warner said, he, Senator Roberts, Senator Rockefeller, and I had that opportunity. What an extraordinarily dedicated, and motivated professional group of men and women they are; what representatives of America and the values that we stand for they are; how well trained and equipped they are; how extraordinarily high their morale was and is; and how determined this Congress is, I know now, to give them our total support. In the course of that visit, I met with a group of about 20 Marines from Michigan at Camp Commando. One young Marine asked me what was going on back home with the antiwar demonstrations. I could tell by the demeanor of the other Marines, both men and women, that this was a matter on the minds of a number of them. I told them that those demonstrating back home were carrying out and exercising a right which is something we all cherish. As a matter of fact, they were exercising the very freedoms that our Armed Forces have protected throughout our history. I told them we had a vigorous debate in the Senate last fall about the wisdom of initiating an attack against Saddam Hussein if we were unable to persuade the world community, acting through the United Nations, to authorize and support such an attack. I told them that, in the end, a majority of both Houses of the Congress voted to authorize the President to use military force with or without that explicit authority of the United Nations. I told them that our democracy functions through debate and decision, and that the decision to give the President this authority was democratically arrived at. Finally and most importantly, I told these Marines I was confident that, after the debate in Congress about the wisdom of instituting an attack without the support of the world community through the United Nations, if hostilities should start, those who have such different views will come together and will rally behind them and give them the full support hey deserve. My prediction that we would come together if hostilities ever began, despite differences over the wisdom of the policy of proceeding without U.N. authority, has now come true. We stand here together, shoulder to shoulder, whichever side of that particular issue we voted on, to support the men and women who are now in harm's way. We saw just a very visual and visible example of that a few minutes ago when the majority and Democratic leaders literally stood shoulder to shoulder here in the well of the Senate as they both presented a resolution of support of our troops and then indicated they were going to work hard for its passage. The visit we had was quite an extraordinary visit. The men and women we visited understood fully what we were telling them about the nobility of this system of government of ours and how they represented that nobility by putting their lives on the line. I am pleased to have helped draft this resolution. I am pleased to add my voice and my vote to it. The hostilities have begun. The democratic debate has occurred. The men and women of our Armed Forces have the unified support of the Nation they love and for which they willingly serve and for which they risk their all. To them I can only say they are in the prayers of every American and that we all hope for a speedy conclusion to this war with the minimal number of casualties and that they return home to their loved ones as soon as possible. I yield the floor.

Mr. LEVIN. Before the Senator from Nevada leaves, I add my thanks to him not just for his very kind words but, as Senator Warner said, for his absolutely invaluable leadership on this floor year after year. We were able to get a bill passed last year, in good measure, because of his ability to get us to the point where we could resolve differences among Members to get to votes. One particular instance that I hope the Senator will always be remembered for--at least he will in our minds, I know--is his leadership to make sure that the veterans who are disabled are able to get a disability pension, particularly if they are severely disabled, at the same time they get a retirement benefit. The absurd result that we had veterans who were severely disabled who lost their disability benefit at the same time their pension became available to them was wrong. It was corrected by this Senate, in large measure because of the leadership of Senator Reid. That is one of the many monuments to his leadership that hopefully will be remembered.

Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I yield as much time as Senator Reid needs.

Mr. LEVIN. If the Senator from Virginia will yield, I want to add a similar thought. I wish all of our troops could see the two of you standing together here. I had no doubt we would unite in support of our troops when the time came, and that is exactly what is happening. This picture is a very eloquent statement about the unity of the Congress once we are committed to combat.